When most people travel, they spend some time booking hotel rooms. However, my friend Ashley and I were not like most people many years ago. We decided that backpacking through Ireland would be more fun if we “winged it”.
Winging it, of course, meant that we’d each buy a one-way ticket to Dublin, and give ourselves ten days to get back to Bath, England, where we were enrolled in a study-abroad program. The plan was to visit Dublin, Galway, Cong, and finally end things in Belfast, where we figured we could catch a flight back to England.
Unfortunately, Ireland had other plans for us, as nothing worked out the way in which we thought it would. After getting stuck in Galway and Cong for about seven days, we finally managed to take a bus trip from Cong to Belfast. The twelve-hour bus ride started at ten in the morning, which meant that we’d arrive in the heart of Belfast at around ten at night. Of course, like all transport, the bus ran late, and we ended up in Belfast at around eleven-thirty at night. As there were a ton of hotels around the area where it dropped us off, we weren’t too worried about finding a hotel room. But hotel after hotel turned us down.
After the third hotel turned us down and the fourth one was locked up for the night, Ashley and I started to realize that we had to spend a long night sleeping on a city bench. Like militant soldiers, we slept in turn as we were worried we would get robbed. The system worked, as we were able to stay safe while catching as much sleep as we could on the bench.
From this experience, I really learnt a good lesson.
1.Why did the author and his friend decide to wing it when they went to travel in Ireland? (No more than 8 words)
2.What did the author and his friend do in Bath, England? (No more than 8 words)
3.How long did it take the author and his friend to get to Belfast from Cong by bus? (No more than 5 words)
4.Why did the author and his friend have to take turns to sleep? (No more than 8 words)
Anna Craig, 11, has a paper doll covered with stickers(贴纸). On each sticker is written a word, such as cheerful, smart or kind. “We choose stickers that can best describe ourselves and put them on our dolls,” explains Anna, who took part in the activity with a group of girls in the fourth grade last year.
The activity is part of a program called “Beautiful Me.” The program’s goals are to help girls achieve a normal and healthy level of self-respect and develop basic skills of solving problems and handling relationships with others. So far, about 6,000 girls in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, have joined in it.
The organizers of “Beautiful Me” train teachers to present the program material to small groups of girls. They guide groups to carry out different activities. The activities include hands-on art activities, role-playing games and discussions on topics like making lasting friendships. Groups will show their performance, when they are ready.
The organizers of “Beautiful Me” say the program helps girls understand their feelings, solve problems and get along well with others. Anna Craig says that she learns so many things from the program. But most importantly, she starts to appreciate the special qualities of other people. She also thinks that it’s important to feel good about herself. When people feel good about themselves, it is easy to make other people around them feel good too!
Two of the most important people I know are my coaches. They also happen to 1. my mom and dad!
My mom, Mary, and my dad, Jack, are my coaches. They started teaching me 2. to play tennis when I was only four years old. They gave me the confidence to believe in my game on the court(球场), and to believe that I can do 3. I try in my life.
4. most important lesson mom and dad taught me was to enjoy the game while working hard. They said that if I didn’t love tennis, I should find something I did love and give 5. 100%. Luckily, they taught tennis in a way that made me love the game. I hope one day to become as great a teacher to others as they have been to me!
In the past two years, his wife, Merlie, and their seven children have said “goodbye” to him four times, most recently last month. Each time it has been unnecessary.
Mr. Smart had a hip (髋关节) replacement in February at the Burnie hospital but was rushed back two months later with internal bleeding.
“The doctors couldn’t stop the bleeding,” Mrs. Smart said. Medical staff told Mrs. Smart to contact her family, which includes children in Western Australia. “It took two days for them to get here. We had to hope he hung on .” he did.
“The doctors were there 24 hours a day and they stopped the bleeding. They brought him back,” Mrs. Smart said.
“I certainly believe in miracles because I’ve seen one happen, but it wouldn’t have happened if the doctors didn’t do what they did.”
It was the second time Mrs. Smart thought she was losing her husband of 54 years. Two years ago, Mr. Smart was admitted to the Launceston General Hospital after a heart attack and a few days later with intense pain caused by a hemorrhage (出血). Again, the family was called to say goodbye---twice.
“I was given a 50-50 chance of coming out of it, ” Mr. Smart said.
Going through the ordeal (苦难，折磨) then was trying on the family, who had prepared themselves for the worst.
But to face the same situation only two years later was hard. The Smarts said the support they received at the Burnie hospital helped them through.
And it seems the experience has also left an impression at the hospital. Mrs. Smart said when she rang recently and mentioned her husband’s name, the reply was “ah the miracle man”.
1.The first time Mrs. Smart and the children said goodbye to Mr. Smart was when he had .
A. a hip replacement B. internal bleeding
C. a heart attack D. intense pain caused by a hemorrhage
2.When Mr. Smart was rushed back to the hospital with internal bleeding, .
A. only his wife believed he could survive
B. no one believed that he could survive
C. he had given up hope of recovering
D. it didn’t take the doctors long to stop the bleeding
3.The experience Mr. Smart had at the hospital could be that of .
A. concern B. puzzle C. fear D. wonder
4.The underlined phrase “hung on ”in the third paragraph can be replaced by .
A. beat the pain B. came back to life
C. lived through D. make his fortune
5.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The Miracle Man. B. The Kind Doctors and Nurses.
C. A Devoted Wife. D. A Great Family.
With the average home in the capital selling for 19,548 yuan a meter in November, a tiny mobile home built by a 24-year-old office worker is creating a stir(震动) online.
Dai Haifei built the 6-square-meter pad(住所) because he could not afford to buy or rent in the capital.
Dai’s new home costs him 6,400 yuan and he has been living in it for nearly two months in courtyard at Chengfu
Road, Haidian district.
Dai, who is one of the millions of migrants who moved to the capital from other parts of China seeking a better
life and better job, said he realized his financial burden had become too great.
The Hunan native said he simply could not make ends meet(收支相抵) when he became an intern at a
Beijing-based construction design company in 2009.
“I rented a home at the very beginning--a small room in an apartment that cost me about 900 yuan per month,”
said Dai in an interview with local media. “It was too expensive for me. ”
Dai’s father works on a construction site in his hometown and his mother is a cleaner.
Dai, who ended up becoming a formal employee of the company, figured out his own way to solve the
problem---with inspiration from a housing design project at his company’s exhibition early this year.
The project, named“An egg given birth to by the city”, included a series of egg-like movable houses, with a
karaoke house, chair house and trader’s house in it.
Dai, who borrowed 6,400 yuan from an older cousin and who got additional help from several friends, decided to
make one of his own. He spent nearly two months building his“egg house”in his hometown, a village in southeast
Hunan that is around 1,700 kilometers from Beijing.
1.Where is this passage probably taken from?
A. A story book. B. A cartoon film. C. A news report. D. A research report.
2.What is Dai Haifei?
A. An official of government. B. A journalist.
C. An office worker of a company. D. A manager of a company.
3.Why did he build the pad?
A. Because he will sell it for money.
B. Because he has no house to get married in.
C. Because he doesn’t have enough money to buy or rent a house.
D. Because he wants to get help from the society.
4.Which statement is not TRUE?
A. He comes from a Hunan village.
B. He has lived in the egg home for two months.
C. He got the idea from a friend.
D. He once rented a room.
5.What’s the writer’s attitude?
A. Supporting. B. Puzzled. C. Criticizing. D. Objective.
Everyone has got two personalities—the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control your behavior, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings. You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive(不坦率的) person. You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset. You’re very stubborn(顽固的), but you aren’t very ambitious. You’re usually live for today not for tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up (卷曲), you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive. You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You’re easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality. You know your strengths and weaknesses. You’re usually careful. You have a confident personality. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get depressed. You always say what you think even if it annoys people.
1.According to the writer, you naturally show your secret and real personality .
A. only in a normal night
B. only when you go to sleep
C. only when you refuse to show yourself to the word
D. only when you change sleeping position
2.Which is NOT mentioned in the second paragraph about a person’s personality?
A. He or she is always open with others.
B. He or she always likes new ideas earlier than others.
C. He or she is always easily upset.
D. He or she tends to believe in others.
3.Point out which sentence is used to show the personality of a person who is used to sleeping on his or her stomach?
A. He or she is careful not to offend others.
B. He or she doesn’t want to stick to his or her opinion.
C. He or she can’t be successful in any business.
D. He or she likes to bring others happiness.
4.Which of the following may be the reason for you not to make friends with a person who sleeps curled up?
A. He or she would rather be alone than communicate with you.
B. He or she is rarely ready to help you.
C. He or she prefers staying at home to going out.
D. He or she wouldn’t like to get help from you.
5.It appears that the writer tends to think highly of the person who sleeps on one side because .
A. he or she always shows sympathy for people
B. he or she is confident, but not stubborn
C. he or she has more strengths than weaknesses
D. he or she often considers annoying people
